Packers Gain Yards, Not Victory, Against Lions

 By Eric Goska

Jordan Love was in attendance at Lambeau Field Sunday.
(photos by Eric Goska)

Come away with 400 yards and the Packers had always been golden against the Lions at Lambeau Field.

Alas, like any streak, this one was bound to end.

Detroit – a team that plays its home games in a dome – had little trouble adjusting to the elements Sunday. The Lions shrugged off the wind and rain to dispatch Green Bay 24-14 in a much anticipated battle for supremacy in the NFC North Division.

Had the outcome been determined by the stat sheet, Green Bay would have won. The Packers produced more first downs (20 to 17) and manufactured more yards (411 to 261) en route to engineering a more robust average gain per offensive play (6.6 to 4.7).

Josh Jacobs led all runners with 95 yards rushing, 22 better than Detroit’s David Montgomery. Jayden Reed paced all receivers with 113 yards, more than double the output of the Lions’ Amon-Ra St. Brown.

But, like empty calories, the Green and Gold’s abundance provided little nutritional value. Besting the Lions in a host of statistical categories did little to effect the scoreboard.

Coach Matt LaFleur’s outfit can’t even brag about having outgained Detroit by 150 yards. The Titans (+191) did so by a wider margin (on Oct. 27) and lost 52-14.

Where it mattered most, Green Bay floundered. It had twice as many penalties (10 to 5), far more dropped passes (6 to zero by one count) and three botched snaps.

And while Jordan Love passed for more yards (273) than his counterpart Jared Goff (145), he also threw an inexcusable pick-six just before the half to put the Lions up 17-3 at the break.

Yards gained can get a team only so far.

Years ago, gaining 400 or more yards was usually followed by a win. Green Bay went 16-0-1 in such games from 1923 to 1945.

Even this century, getting to 400 often pays dividends. Since 2000, the Packers are 88-28-1 when doing so.

Green Bay has attained 400 yards a total of 233 times during the regular season since 1923, going 175-55-3 in those games. It struck for the first time against the Racine Tornadoes in 1926. It struck most often against – you guessed it – the Detroit Lions.

The Motor City Eleven have often served as a punching bag for the Packers. Sunday was the 40th time Green Bay nicked the Lions for 400 or more yards in the regular season. The team is 32-8 when doing so.

And while the Packers could get there and still lose when playing in Detroit, hitting the benchmark at Lambeau Field had always come coupled with victory. From 407 yards in a game in November 1964 to 488 yards in an early-season matchup in 2020, Green Bay had gone 12-0 against the Lions in the stadium named for its first head coach.

(L-R): Marques Eversoll, Bill Rabeor and Chris Havel.

Green Bay hadn’t been perfect against the Bears (9-2).  It hadn’t been without blemish against the Vikings (5-3-1).

But against the Lions, it had been spot on.

Over a 32-year span from 1992 – the season Green Bay again began to win with regularity – through last season, the Packers gained more yards and scored more points against the Lions than they did against any other team. While the differences between what they inflicted on the Bears and Vikings were small, one fact remained: Detroit was on the bottom.

Not anymore. As the division-leading Lions (7-1) have shown, they can win when outgained. LeFleur and his Packers (6-3) had better marry points to yards when the two teams tangle on the first Thursday in December.

Stepping Off 400 at Lambeau
Green Bay’s regular-season record (73-15-1) when it gains 400-plus yards at Lambeau Field.

     Record           Team                    Streak
        12-1                 Lions                        Lost 1
         9-2                 Bears                        Won 6
         6-0                 Cowboys                Won 6
         5-1                  Eagles                     Won 1
       5-3-1                Vikings                    Lost 1
         4-0                 Buccaneers            Won 4
         4-0                 49ers                       Won 4

Rest of the league: Falcons (3-1); Raiders (3-0), Cardinals (3-0); Titans (2-1); Giants (2-0), Rams (2-0), Patriots (2-0), Redskins (2-0), Saints (2-0); Chargers (1-1), Chiefs (1-1), Colts (1-1); Bengals (1-0), Bills (1-0), Broncos (1-0), Seahawks (1-0); Browns (0-1), Jaguars (0-1) and Panthers (0-1).